Field of the Inventions
The present inventions relate generally to eyewear and more specifically to goggle frames, having improved comfort, features, and fit.
Description of the Related Art
A wide variety of improvements have been made in recent years in the eyewear field, particularly with respect to eyewear intended for use in active sports, including goggles and sunglasses. These improvements have been incorporated into eyewear and goggles having both dual and unitary lens designs. As a result, modern active sport eyewear is functionally superior to its predecessor eyewear in numerous ways, such as by maximizing interception of peripheral light, reducing optical distortion, and increasing the wearer's comfort level.
For example, lens designs for both dual and unitary eyewear and goggle designs can provide full side-to-side range of vision and good lateral eye protection while providing superior optical performance. More particularly, in a unitary lens system, the angle of incidence from the wearer's eye to the posterior lens surface changes as the wearer's line of sight turns in either the vertical or the horizontal planes. This results in disparate refraction between light entering closer to the front of the lens and peripheral light entering at the side portions. To address this source of prismatic distortion, U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,048 discloses tapering the thickness of the lens from the central portion toward the side edge, the entirety of the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Further, various improvements have also been made in goggle lens frame technology that allow mounted lenses to retain their superior optical characteristics provided by their as-molded geometry. For example, the “SPLICE” snow goggle manufactured by Oakley, Inc., incorporates a frame design that mitigates bending stresses along the bridge of the goggle in order to allow the lens to retain its as-molded geometry and maximize the comfort for the wearer. Such systems are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/359,175, titled Controlled Deflection Goggle, filed Jan. 23, 2009, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Finally, numerous modifications have been made to eyeglass and goggle products in an effort to make these products more comfortable for the wearer. For example, different materials have been used in the manufacture of frames and lenses in order to decrease the weight and improve the comfort of these products. These technological improvements can be incorporated into any variety of dual or unitary lens designs, whether for eyeglass or goggle products, in order to provide a wearer with a comfortable, optically superior eyewear product.
Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of skill in the art in view of the detailed description of preferred embodiments which follows, when considered together with the attached drawings and claims.